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One of my favorite parts of squad-based RPGs is learning about the fantastic casts of characters that join players on their adventures. This is particularly true for titles made by the legendary Obsidian Entertainment.
Their RPGs feature some of the best writing in the entire RPG genre, with their Pillars of Eternity series being a personal favorite of mine.
In Pillars of Eternity, players’ party members are critical. The games feature a diverse cast of characters with their histories, personalities, goals, and playstyles.
This means that building your party requires you to consider both the characters that will get along with how you plan to roleplay your character as well as working well together mechanically.
I love this aspect of the game as it gives players a ton to think about with each potential party member. So, if you’re considering having Tekēhu join your party, here is everything you’ll need to know.
Key Info Up Front
- Gender: Male
- Race: Marine Godlike
- Background: Artist
- Culture: Huana
- Classes: Stormspeaker Chanter, Watershaper Druid, Theurge
- Location: Watershapers Guild
- Romance Option: Yes
Tekēhu Background
The Marine Godlike
Tekēhu is a marine Godlike that has blue skin and hair that resembles the tentacles of an anemone. Godlike in Pillars of Eternity is thought to have been touched by one of the world’s gods, granting them unique abilities and permanently altering their appearance. Being Godlike is a very interestingly complicated thing.
Many consider being transformed into a Godlike before birth a blessing and omen of great fortune. Others see it as a curse because it prevents them from reproducing and damns them always to be different from their families and those around them.
In Tekēhu’s case, he is believed to have been touched by the goddess of the seas and oceans, Ondra. Although in Huana, she is known as Ngati. I love that Tekēhu is this Godlike because it is unique to him.
He is not the only Godlike of Ondra to ever exist, but he is the only party member to be one. This not only makes him more enticing to players because of his appearance but also allows him to serve as an insight into a unique perspective in the game’s world.
He serves as a window into the lives of the Huana for the player and the Godlike in a way that only he can, making him a fascinating companion to interact with.
A Powerful Student
When the player first meets Tekēhu, he is a student of the Watershapers Guild. The guild is one of the more exciting factions players run into during their time in Pillars of Eternity 2. This is because it is at the bedrock of Huana culture.
Watershaping is an art invented by their druids and is widely regarded as their crowning achievement. They believe that it was taught to the first watershapers by Ondra herself, so it also serves as a highly religious practice for the Huana.
It is led by Guildmaster Mairu, who Tekēhu frequently clashes with. This is because he is an incredibly gifted wielder of watershaping, and he knows it. He has a natural talent for the art, leading him to become arrogant and overly confident in his abilities.
He frequently skips lectures entirely if he thinks he is above them, attempts to access restricted areas, and expects those above him in the guild to bend to his whims. Due to his arrogance, Ondra contacts the player when they first meet Tekēhu and ask them to intervene so that he doesn’t waste his abilities.
Combined with Tekēhu’s race, this is a very interesting position for him to start when the player meets him. With Ondra intervening in Tekēhu’s life on top of making him a Godwoken, it is clear that she has some more excellent plan for him.
However, her favor has gotten in the way of him following that plan, as the arrogance it gave him disrupts his learning and outlook on the world around him. This sets up an exciting arc for the player to explore alongside Tekēhu if they bring him along on their journeys.
The Prize of the Kahanga
Tekēhu considers Ondra his true mother since it was through her blessing that he became a Godwoken. However, his biological parents are members of the Kahanga tribe, which is at the head of the tribal coalition that leads the Huana.
This status undoubtedly added to his arrogance, but his biological parents come from exceedingly humble origins. His father works as a merchant of pearls and opals from their home island Etūa while his mother tans the hides of boars.
Despite the humble origins of his biological parents, Tekēhu was always treated as a key message from Ondra. When he was born, his home island was besieged by a mighty storm that lasted the entire time and stopped immediately when he was delivered.
His induction into the Watershapers Guild was also accelerated because of his status as a Godwoken, which the Huana viewed as a gift from Ondra for them to protect their way of life.
This is partly because Tekēhu’s upbringing aligned with increasing efforts to subjugate the Deadfire Archipelago the Huana call home by outside forces. Growing up within such a tense social climate had a massive effect on Tekēhu and for understandable reasons.
As he grew older, he grew to resent the outside forces that would try to force their way of life onto his people, which is another profound aspect of his personality for players to explore with him.
How to Get Tekēhu
During the player’s journey through the Deadfire Archipelago, they will eventually be led to the Watershapers Guild, where Tekēhu is taught. When they arrive, he will be scolded by his Guildmaster for skipping a lecture he thought he was above.
After the argument subsides, the player can speak with Tekēhu and accept him into their party if they wish to. Once that is done, he will stay with them throughout the game.
However, one of the significant parts of the companions in Pillars of Eternity 2 is how they can leave the player if they disagree with their actions. This is a great way to push players to keep their word and consider their decisions beforehand.
It also helps make the game’s characters feel even more realistic and deep since they have a line they won’t cross. For Tekēhu, he will potentially leave the player during the quest The Coming Storm.
Suppose the player sides with the Royal Deadfire Company during the quest. In that case, he will get infuriated with the player’s betrayal of the Huana and leave for good, which makes complete sense with his personality and history.
Playing with Tekēhu
Once you have Tekēhu at your party, you must keep some things in mind when playing with him. This includes his personality preferences so that he gets along with your other party members and the classes he can access.
There are also two quests that I highly suggest taking him with because he plays a crucial role in them, and if you wish, he is even a romance option.
Preferences
Tekēhu’s preferences regarding his party members make a lot of sense when considering his perspective on the world around him. He has very few dislikes, but they are solid.
He is vehemently against those with the Anti-Huana trait and those who are Pro-Rauatai. This makes perfect since he is motivated to protect his culture from outsiders and preserve their way of life.
He also has many traits that he appreciates in others, which mostly align with his worldview. Firstly, he likes Pro-Huana and Pro-Godlike people, which makes sense.
He also respects the Piety trait and believes that people should be respectful toward the gods and those who follow them. Finally, he has a favorable opinion toward characters with Progressive, Pride, and Lighthearted traits, which all reflect his personality.
These preferences mean that Tekēhu gets along exceptionally well with Moti. I love running both of them in my party at once because of how quickly their friendship blooms and grows.
Tekēhu even goes so far as to refer to Xoti as a friend Xoti after a short while. However, Tekēhu does not get along with Maia Rua since she is an active agent of the Royal Deadfire Company, whom he despises.
This is a bit disappointing since the two would have an exciting synergy in combat, but it makes a lot of sense for their characters. You can still run both in your party, but you’ll need to remember that you won’t be able to satisfy them both.
Classes
When players recruit party members in Pillars of Eternity 2, they can pick between three class options for them. Two options are unique subclasses of the game’s standard classes, while the third is always a mixture of the two.
For Tekēhu, the player can pick between his Watershaper Druid class or his Stormspeaker Chanter class. If players want him to use both, his class is instead a Theurge.
Watershaper Druid
In Pillars of Eternity 2, Druids naturally fill a mix of offensive casting and healing. They excel at casting preventative healing and support spells before switching their attention to the frontline of combat. They have the unique ability to shapeshift into different animals, each with its strengths and weaknesses.
Because of their focus on being able to help on the frontline of combat as well, Druids typically need some help with healing. I prefer to run them with a secondary healer, such as a Paladin, as running them with a dedicated healer, like a Priest, tends to nullify the Druid’s healing altogether.
This way, they can get their support out at the start of a fight and let their party members worry about more reactive healing later.
Tekēhu’s unique Druid subclass is the Watershaper, exclusive to the Huana. It grants him access to a list of themed spells and an exclusive Shark form to take, but it prevents him from taking any of the Druid’s regular spells that feature the Fire or Beasts keyword.
This sees Tekēhu’s version of the Druid having to be played in a very particular way, especially regarding elemental options. However, that isn’t a big negative, as other party members easily cover its weaknesses with a broader range of options.
If you’re looking to have Tekēhu play as a Druid I have found that prioritizing the class’ offensive capabilities works best. The Watershaper subclass still has some support options that you can use at the start of combat encounters, but it really shines through its exclusive area-of-effect spells.
These spells can be used without fear of damaging allies, which is an exceptionally strong benefit to this subclass. You can use this to pelt every enemy on the battlefield with near-constant weather effects without worrying about damaging your allies. This is especially huge once Tekēhu gets access to higher level spells.
Stormspeaker Chanter
Chanters excel best as support characters that increase the damage the rest of your party will be dealing. I try to always have a Chanter in my party compositions regardless of if they are a dedicated one or have access to it through multiclassing.
The benefits they provide through buffs is pivotal for dealing with higher-health enemies, especially at the higher difficulties.
However, Tekēhu’s Stormspeaker subclass does lose the ability to summon invocations, which is one of the more unique aspects of the class. Instead, it gains a selection of incantations that copy effects from various Druid and Wizard abilities such as Dancing Bolts, Chain Lightning, and Weather the Storm.
For this reason, I don’t suggest running Tekēhu as a dedicated Chanter unless you are looking to play the class in an atypical way.
If you do want to have Tekēhu be only a Stormcaller Chanter, you should not expect him to contribute a lot of damage to your party. He will still perform exceptionally as a passive support character, but most of his damage potential lies in his Druid class.
With that in mind, I recommend instead focusing on the buffing potential of the Chanter class and giving him a melee weapon with reach so that he can wade into battle right behind your tank and other damage dealers.
Then, just focus on buffing their damage. It will be a thankless job for Tekēhu, but you will see a significant increase in the performance of your other party members.
Theurge
If you are interested in Tekēhu having the abilities of a Chanter at all I recommend instead going with the Theurge. This approach makes Tekēhu a dedicated offensive caster that can cover all of your party’s magical needs if approached correctly.
I like to build Tekēhu’s Theurge as a lightning-focused caster. This is because of his Chanter subclass giving him access to the invocations Not One Foe Was Spared Amira’s Wrath and Great Amira Let Her Wrath be Shown.
These act like the Wizard spells Chain Lightning and Crackling Bolt respectively, giving him a ton of damage potential right out of the gate. Because of his use of Phrases to cast spells, he can also cast these high level abilities repeatedly through battles, making this build excellent for long-winded encounters or boss fights.
The beauty of this build is that Tekēhu also has access to some extremely effective Frost spells. These boast their own synergies as well, allowing Tekēhu to still hold his own while facing enemies that are immune or resistant to Shock damage.
On top of this, Tekēhu’s Theurge class also grants him some healing ability. You will still need another secondary healer like a Paladin to help carry the weight, but Tekēhu’s chants give him a great method of offering passive healing while he deals damage, which is a potent combination.
Quests
Tekēhu also plays a key role in two quests. These are Trade Secrets and The Shadow Under Neketaka.
Trade Secrets
Trade secrets is a quest that players can undertake for Prince Aruihi of the Huana. The quest sees the player investigating a possible black market that has been set up in the Gullet.
While investigating how this is happening the player discovers that some members of the Watershapers Guild are involved in assisting the pirates behind it. With Tekēhu’s involvement with the guild he has a lot to say about their position in the scheme, which helps provide interesting insight for the quest and the final decision players have to make.
The Shadow Under Neketaka
The player is given this quest by the Hanua queen, Onekaza II. Onekaza II tells the player that she is preparing for a coming climax as political tensions continue to rise in the Deadfire Archipelago.
However, she says that she has had a hard time receiving word from the Watershaper Guildmaster Mairu. Since the Watershapers are pivotal to her preparations, she requests the player go and find Mairu to see what is going on.
I don’t want to spoil the later details of the quest because I think it has one of the most interesting moral dilemmas in the entire game. Suffice it to say that the quest reveals the Watershapers have only managed to be as powerful as they are through the abuse of another power source.
This puts the player in an extremely interesting position, especially when Tekēhu is in the party. The revelation causes Tekēhu to have a crisis of faith regarding the Watershapers as well as his own lessons and powers derived from their teachings. If you bring Maia in your party as well as Tekēhu the two also have a very interesting dialogue.
Romancing Tekēhu
If you keep Tekēhu in your party throughout the game there is a good chance that you will have the opportunity to enter a romantic relationship with him. To unlock the ability to do so you’ll have to keep your relationship with him at at least +1.
The romance option begins with Tekēhu asking the player questions about their opinion of him to probe the possibility of a relationship. When he does this players are able to give romantic responses that will eventually lead toward entering a relationship with him that can continue to the game’s ending.
FAQs
Question: What is the Best Class for Tekēhu?
Answer: Tekēhu’s best class is undoubtedly Druid. His unique sublcass grants him access to area-of-effect spell variants that don’t damage allies, which is wholly unique to him. This allows him to bombard enemies with spells constantly and boasts extremely impressive damage numbers.
Question: Can You Romance Tekēhu?
Answer: Yes, Tekēhu is a romanceable companion. To do so, the player has to select the romantic dialogue options when Tekēhu asks them for their opinion of him.
Question: How Do You Recruit Tekēhu?
Answer: Tekēhu becomes available for joining your party after you find him in the middle of an argument at teh Watershapers Guild. He will be getting scolded for skipping a lesson by the guildmaster, and afterward the player is able to request that he joins them on their journey.
Conclusion
As far as Pillars of Eternity 2 companions go Tekēhu is the complete package, and he represents what makes the game so special. He has a deep and complicated personality for players to explore and learn from throughout their playthrough.
His place in the game’s world provides a unique perspective that gives players a greater understanding of the game’s world and their place in it. And his class options contain some of the most unique subclass options in the entire game that allow him to support playstyles no other character can.
Players don’t need to add Tekēhu to their party to have a great time with Pillars of Eternity 2, but if you’re looking to see the game at its best, I highly recommend picking him up and giving him a chance as early as possible.
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